Depends … in general I think the artist is the lead singer/lead guitarist, providing the colourful draw to the band (literally) and the writer is the rhythm section (bass/drums) that drives the song along. In some comics the writer is more to the fore … the Alan Moore's, Neil Gaiman's, Grant Morrison's of the comic band world are the bassist/singers drummer/singers (The Sting's and Phil Collin's if you will, maybe even the Brian Wilson's?). In some music/comics the bass and drums get lost in the wash, in other's they are the hook.

Good writing would probably get you no where if the art wasn't at least palatable. Likewise, I think we've all enjoyed comics/TV shows/movies that have terrible writing but good art. You know, like the average Hayao Miyazaki movie. Oh, stop looking at me like that; Ponyo was a plot-hole filled mess and you know it! But I still loved it. We all did. It's because of the second-only-to-Disney animation.

I'm gonna say the artist is the lead singer. The art is the front man and the public face of the comic band. The writer is, well, the writer and probably lead guitarist. Singer can't go any where without the music, can he? I have no idea how the inker/penciler dynamic would break down though. Probably like Eddy Van Halen and David Lee Roth. :)

So people who identify more as artists think it's the writer and those who identify more as a writer think it's the artist? hahaha, I can see both sides here ^_^

OK then if you're a comic bandmember, given whatever role, what style are you? I.e. what music star's style best explains the way you are as a writer or artist?

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With Pit Face, some sort of Thrash Metal comes to mind obviously, but the clever, more artistic sort, if there is such a thing? :)

With me I've always identified with old style Glam Rock, T-Rex (and maybe the 80s style Glam Metal too), that sort of thing, due to my tendency towards bright colours and bombastic over the top imagery with the explosions and big machinery, women etc.But if I was a “lead singer” artist I flatter myself massively by saying I was more a Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin days) style: Flamboyant, self indulgent, aware of many styles and influences but obsessed with my own version of them, somewhat skilled, a show-off.

Since I'm the writer and the artist on my stuff I'm more of a one man band with a drum on his chest, a kazoo in his mouth and an accordian between his knees.As for styles, my comics were inspired by certain songs and genres.EA is a late era XTC. Apple Venus era to be exact. That and celtic folk music.Mailbox Rocketship is some kind of punk/ska/techno hybrid thing with a little prog rock thrown in to drive people nuts. :)

Hmm, the rhythm section of Booker T. and the MGs; versitile, funky, solid, able to switch styles at a moments notice, and take any old tired tune and jazz it up a bit giving it a new lease on life. That's what I'd like my writing to be, ideally, or at least what I strive for, never, ever reaching the goal … (I play the bassline to Green Onions all the time, and some guitarist and keyboard playing friends of mine have been known to do 25-minute rambling versions of that tune with me on occassion.)

You know, there are some comics I read because of the good art, and some I read because of the story. So I think that the “lead singer” in my mind is the person who is doing the part I like most.

But then there are situations where one of the two is simply the more vocal one… for instance, maybe the writer is the one that makes the author's notes or blog posts most of the time. That's often the lead singer to me.

This is going to seem like a cop-out but I see the writer/artist relationship as a partnership like Simon & Garfunkel or Lennon & MacCartney as opposed to “Lead singer” and band. Harrison and Starr knew they were also-rans in the partnership of Lennon and McCartney becasue that was the magic with occasional input from George and Ringo. It's the same magical parasitic relationship between writer and artist.

And think about this, the writer may produce a script but what can an artist produce anything without that script? Will a lead singer have anything to sing without the song writer? But to extend the metaphyr how the singer interprets the lyrics can vary widely so it's more than just words and that's a parasitc relationship, because one isn't much without the other and one's work needs the other to be worth anything as a whole.

(Heh, With Simon and Garfunkel though, Simon was always really the leader there, the brains… and Garfunkel was the main voice.)

The thing is, yeah it is a partnership thing, of course, but who do you identify with what role? The roles are different and distinctive, just like they are in comic making. One isn't necessarily greater than the other, that's not the point, but which one is most alike to its analogue in comic making?

From my experience in our collab with Pit Face on BR I'd say for a comic to be great, there is needed a DUET. Both the writer and the artist have to be able to both support and lead, when the time is right. Otherwise you got an unbalanced outcome in the end, let alone frustration and/or friction between the writer and the artist. Both artist and writer lead and accompany, so that the end result is harmonious.

Hmm…I've never thought about that before. I'm a writer myself, but I'll say that the artist is the lead singer. The “front man” is, let's be honest, usually the more attractive out of the whole band - he/she draws (heh) the audience in with his/her aesthetics and charm. I like the idea that the writer is, well, the songwriter. I think that when a singer is also a songwriter, that makes the music all the more real and emotional. Same with comics - if the illustrator is also the writer, they can produce very incredible things. Not to say that collaboration doesn't work wonders in most cases, but there's something about being in control of both facets that can bring on some powerful stuff.

The writer is the song smith. The lead singer is the artist. The lead guitar would be the colorist as the lead musician usually compliments the singer. Inker/penciller would be a vocal duet since in most comics they are really inseperable. (NO THE INKER JUST TRACES! Shut up collector from Chasing Amy) The letterer is the drummer as he sets the pace of the music. The producer would be the guy who has final okay on the page layout whether editor or whoever.